[image: HappyHourMom on Flickr]

Regardless of what you think about the term "Mommy Bloggers" - we happen to hate it - it has become a much buzzed about and hyped demographic of sorts for marketers of all stripes. As BusinessWeek freelancer Karen E. Klein wrote in a June feature story:

There are 82.5 million mothers in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and 35 million of them have children under 18 and access the Internet regularly, according to a 2008 research report by eMarketer. Since women do the majority of product research and household purchasing, savvy mommy blogs include product reviews and recommendations on items ranging from infant clothing to packaged food to new cars. Large corporations have been marketing to bloggers for several years, and many have marketing campaigns specifically set up to reach mothering blogs.

This is nothing new to marketing and PR professionals. However, are the "Mommy Bloggers" beginning to fight back against the corporate perks of their profession? One group called Mom Dot is, and is encouraging others to follow suit. Says the group:

With the allure of giveaways, reviews, and blog trips, Mom Bloggers have turned from what they love the most, their family, into working directly as public relations for their captive audience. It boils down to knowing your worth and then standing up for it.

...we adore many of our fabulous PR reps and treat them like bloggy friends, our site, and many others, are inundated with hundreds, if not thousands, of product requests each year resulting in massive obligations and deadline stress equivalent to what the General Motors CEO must feel every time he drives into work.

They've proposed a "PR Blackout Challenge" where during the week of August 10th through 16th Mommy Bloggers, "do not blog ANY giveaways, ANY reviews, and Zero press releases. In fact, we dont want you to talk to PR at ALL that whole week."

Just how big is Momdot? Compete.com lists the site has having 50k unique monthly visitors, which is about one sixth the size of PRWeekUs.com. Not everyone agrees with the boycott tactic. Writes blogger Susan Getgood: "The issue isn't the reviews. Or the free products. The issue is disclosure. It's about ethics. And integrity."

[Hat tip: Peter Himler]